|
During
the last quarter of this century Information Technology
(IT) has transformed the way of human life as
no other technology has. Now, there is no area
of human life, which is not affected by information
technology in one way or the other.
IT
has potential of converting our society into a
truly knowledge based society. IT also gives us
a chance in ensuring that such an evolution leads
to an equitable society. India's information technology
sector is an example of a developing country's
global competitiveness in a high - technology
domain. India ranks as the most competitive supply
of skilled information technology professionals
today and is the preferred supplier of software
solutions to the developed world, and Indian companies
have earned credibility in delivering to mission-critical
requirements, following the successful implementation
of Y2K and Euro conversion solutions.
This
sector has succeeded not only in achieving global
competitiveness but also raising awareness of
the benefit of IT within the country thereby laying
the platform for future growth.
The
pace of growth of the IT sector in India has been
rapid; the share of IT sector output in GDP has
risen to 3 % in 2001-02 from a mere 0.38 % in
1991-92. Over the 12 year period 1990-2002, the
annual compound rate of growth of output was 37.4
per cent i.e. output was doubling every 2.2 years.
This rapid growth has essentially been the result
of a rapid expansion of exports. During this period,
the exports have been growing at 54 per cent per
annum. There has been trend shift in the rate
of expansion of IT sector output in 1996-97 driven
by these exports. The trend rate of growth of
out put rose from 23.7 per cent during 1990-91
- 1996-97 to 29.8 per cent during 1995-96 - 2001-02,
where as the rate of growth of exports rose from
32.5 per cent to 46.6 per cent during those periods.
The
IT sector growth has been driven largely by the
private sector on both the supply and demand sides,
through government support in terms of IT infrastructure
investments, duty free access to hardware for
software exports and zero taxation of export profits
played a role.
The
private sector has accounted for a dominant rising
share of domestic IT spending since 1995-96 and
contributed as much as 73 percent of the total
in 2001-02 as compared to 15 per cent and 12 percent
by the government and public sectors respectively.
The
impact of the software industry success of India
is largest on e-governance where there exists
a public private partnership, the private sector
shares financially and administratively in the
initiative. The financial success, technological
expertise and management skill of the software
experience of these enterprises can jump-start
and propel e-governance in the country. The benefits
will be not just economic but both political and
societal.
|
